INTRODUCTION
The historical relationship with African countries is fundamentally different for traditional and new donors, or Western donors and China. In contrast to Western donors, China never had a presence as a colonizer in Africa. To the contrary, China played the role of a supporter in the struggle for independence of African countries. This is highlighted by a lot of Africans, particularly in response to Western criticism of China. Some Africans feel that the reactions from the West arise because Westerners fear competition from China. Consequently Western objections to China’s way of dealing with Africa, is not perceived as a result of concern for African countries, but a protection of Western political and economic interests on the African continent.
The Chinese emphasize that their engagement with Africa is in fact South-South cooperation, and that it should be beneficial to both China and Africa. Rather than emphasizing its role as a donor to African countries, China considers its engagement to be a mutual benefit, leading to win-win results. Chinese aid is mainly invested in infrastructure such as roads, railways, buildings, monuments etc. This is generally very welcomed in African countries where infrastructure is often seriously underdeveloped. Many of the infrastructure projects are implemented to facilitate trade. Although all of the countries in cooperation with China are receiving some sort of aid, the size and form of the aid inflows vary. China does not disclose how much aid and investment is going into different countries, but media announcements in China give the impression that there are clear patterns to where the investment and aid from China is greatest. Countries that supply China with fundamental resources such as oil, metals and woods are strategically important and seem to receive more of both aid and investments than countries that are